![]() The Comsos and Pelé even began touring around the world. Matches were broadcast globally and the star-studded Cosmos team was the hottest ticket in town. Pelé attracted new fans to the sport during his time in New York. “The Cosmos and their King not only started a sporting revolution in America, they also traveled the world to spread the Gospel of the Beautiful Game.” “Where once there had been baseball diamonds, now there were also soccer pitches. “During three seasons with the Cosmos, Pelé helped transform the domestic landscape of the sport of soccer,” the Cosmos said in a statement after his death this week. Pelé came, saw and conquered and by the time ‘ O Rei’ (“The King”) left in 1977, he was an NASL champion who had helped spark a soccer boom. It was almost unfathomable that Pelé would ever play for any other club apart from Santos, but he joined the Cosmos midway through the 1975 season on a $1.67-million-a-year contract, despite soccer struggling to generate much interest in North America at the time. ![]() Pelé had seemingly played his last professional game months prior to joining the North American Soccer League (NASL) side, hanging up his boots after making 638 appearances for his childhood club Santos. ![]() The Brazilian great was convinced to come out of retirement, signing in 1975 for the New York Cosmos for three more seasons. He’d won three World Cups, scored goals galore and become a global icon, but Pelé wasn’t quite done yet, so off he went to the US and helped transform the sport of soccer in North America.
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